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Solomon Mack (1732-1820)
}} Biography Solomon Mack was a resident of eighteenth-century New England and a veteran of the French and Indian War and the American Revolutionary War. Maternal grandfather of the Prophet Joseph SMITH Jr. Veteran of the French & Indian Wars and the Revolutionary War (Israel PUTNAM's company). A brief account of his life, written by his daughter Lucy Mack Smith and taken from his own words, can be found at http://www.ldsmag.com/jsbicentennial/050623lucy1.html or at (chapter 1) Early life Solomon Mack was born on 15 September 1732 to Ebenezer Mack and Hannah Hanlly in Lyme, Connecticut. According to Solomon's memoir, his parents once "had a large property and lived in good style", but by the time Solomon was four, the family had fallen on hard times. Although Soloman came from a line of Scotch clergymen, poverty kept him from the seminary, and he grew up on a farm without schooling or religion-- to use his own words, "like a wild ass's colt." When misfortune befell his father's family, Solomon was but four years of age. He was apprenticed to a neighboring farmer, and experienced the hardships of an "apprenticed hand"--all too common in New England in those times, and afterwards--long hours of incessant toil, cold neglect, with no schooling and but little opportunity for self improvement. His master treated him as a possession rather than a fellow human being. Not until he attained his majority was Solomon Mack set free from this semi-bondage. War From 1755–1759, he served in the French and Indian War, initially enlisting "under the command of Capt. Henry and was annexed to a regiment commanded by Col. Whiting". Then he entered the service of his majesty, King George II, the French and Indian War being at its height. He saw active service during the next four years, being in a number of important engagements with the French and Indians about Lake George; at Fort Edward, Fort William Henry, Ticonderoga and Crown Point. After fighting in the French and Indian War he was married to Lydia Gates. He later fought in the Revolution with his two sons Jason & Stephen, being part of Israel Putnam's Company. Later life Around 1799, Solomon Mack moved to Tunbridge, Vt. In 1811, he self-published his memoir, "Narrative of the Life of Solomon Mack", which detailed his history and his conversion to Christianity. He sought a life of adventure and excitement, and suffered a series of misfortunes, until finally being converted to Christ and realizing that one's relationships with God and family are the things that matter in life. Desiring to share these hard-learned lessons with others, when he was seventy-eight years old he published his memoirs, entitled, "A Narrative of the Life of Soloman Mack, containing an account of the severe accidents he met with during a long series of years, together with the extraordinary manner in which he was converted to the Christian Faith. To which is added a number of hymns, composed on the death of several relations." (printed at the expense of the author, 1810, Windsor VT) Excepts from Autobiography of Solomon Mack Solomon Mack died on 23 August 1820 in Gilsum, New Hampshire. Modernly, there is a historic marker in Vermont at the site of the Solomon Mack home. AutoBiograph Summary Excepts from Autobiography of Solomon Mack. Included is this summary of his own life: "Soloman MACK was a New England frontiersman, deserving of honorable remembrance. He was a colonial pioneer, veteran of the French & Indian War, a patriot of the Revolution, and the patriarch of a notable posterity. For eighty-eight years he sought right manfully to do his part. He fought in two wars for family and country and freeman. He carved with his ax home after home in the wilderness. He helped build roads, mills, dams and bridges. He fought many close battles, traded in a multitude of occupations and endured shipwreck on the open seas. All of this he accomplished, despite a succession of heart-breaking adversities that would have daunted a lesser soul. Repeated disasters of physical and financial nature brought to him not the bitterness of defeat but the joy of an awakened faith. In the end, he published to the world his testimony of the goodness of God." Marriage and Family In 1759 he married schoolteacher Lydia Gates (1732-1818). The couple had seven children and 18 grandchildren. # Lovina Mack (1762-1789) # Lovisa Mack (1762-1794) # Lydia Mack (1674-1826) # Stephen Mack (1766-1826) - Veteran of American Revolutionary War, colonel of Vermont militia, founder of Pontiac, Michigan and supervisor of Detroit. # Jason Gates Mack (1766-1835) - Veteran of American Revolutionary War # Daniel Gates Mack (1770-1851) # Solomon Mack (1773-1851) # Lucy Mack (1775-1856) - md Joseph Smith (1771-1840) - parents of Joseph Smith (1805-1844), founder of the http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Latter_Day_Saint_movement. References * Joseph Smith Immigrant Ancestors